The European Union (EU) announced €500 million (roughly $537 million) in incentives to bolster science in Europe.
On Monday, European Commission (EC) president Ursula von der Leyen, alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, unveiled the Choose Europe for Science campaign at Sorbonne University in Paris.
The program allocates €500 million ($566 million) between 2025 and 2027 to enhance the European Research Council’s capacity to support leading researchers worldwide.
Macron announced a €100 million pledge from France, although it is unclear whether this amount was separate from the EU’s overall commitment.
The officials said this will include funding research projects and supporting universities with the costs of bringing in foreign scientists to help lead them.
The package aims to boost science in Europe, signaling the EU’s commitment to reversing the troubling trend of the continent’s declining global share in research output.
The newly proposed investment will include support for researchers, infrastructure upgrades and the fostering of innovation ecosystems.
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The new campaign comes amidst growing uncertainty around science in the US. The Trump administration froze government funding linked to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at American universities in February, citing DEI as “an inherently discriminatory policy.”
This included the cancellation of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for research on programs on DEI as well as the study of misinformation.
Von der Leyen said, “Science is an investment and we need to offer the right incentives.” She said that funding via the Choose Europe for Science program would help make “Europe a magnet for researchers.”
She said that the EU’s executive branch would set up a “super grant” program that would offer longer contracts and relocation bonuses to attract top global talent.
She also called on EU member states to invest 3% of their gross domestic product in R&D by 2030.
Von der Leyen emphasized Europe’s commitment to scientific freedom and innovation, stating, “Attacking free and open science is a gigantic miscalculation.”
Von der Leyen’s push to promote scientific opportunities in Europe and capitalize on US policy shifts aligns with her broader efforts to highlight the potential for new trade deals with other countries, especially amid the tariff war that Trump ignited last month.
“We call on researchers worldwide to unite and join us … If you love freedom, come and help us stay free,” Macron said at the announcement in Paris.
He also shared his thoughts on Trump’s cuts to research funding in the US.
“Nobody could have thought that very great democracy whose economic model relies so much on free science, on innovation and on its ability over the last three decades to innovate more than Europeans and transmitted this innovation worldwide, would make such an error. But that’s where we are.”
Trump’s Science Cuts Spark Talent Exodus
Since taking office, Trump has targeted US universities by freezing federal funding, initiating investigations, revoking international student visas and imposing additional demands.
Trump has made disruptive — and what many consider baseless — claims that higher education is dominated by what he describes as anti-American, Marxist, antisemitic and radical left ideologies.
Last week, he announced that his administration would revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status — a move Harvard denounced as an unlawful misuse of the US tax code.
A recent survey conducted by Nature revealed that 75% of US-based scientists are contemplating leaving the country due to disruptions to the research environment under the Trump administration. This figure rises to 79% among postgraduate researchers and PhD students.
The Trump administration’s proposed FY2026 budget includes substantial cuts to US science funding.
This includes a major restructuring at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) led by US Health Secretary RFK Jr. that will cut 10,000 jobs across the agency, including 3,500 positions at the FDA. The first round of layoffs took effect April 1, with some retractions and rehiring.
The NIH faces an almost $18 billion reduction, approximately 37% of its budget.
NASA’s top-line budget is proposed to decrease by 24%, affecting key programs such as the Mars Sample Return Mission and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Its science budget will face a cut of 47%.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research and Development would see a 55% budget cut. The agency said the proposed cut is a “wrecking ball that endangers the air we breathe and the water we drink.”
Robert N. Proctor, a historian at Stanford University, told Reuters that Trump was spearheading “a libertarian right-wing assault on the scientific enterprise” that had been building for years.
“We could well see a reverse brain drain,” he said. “It’s not just to Europe; scholars are also moving to Canada and Asia.”
‘Choose Europe for Science’: Ambitious Science Push Faces Funding and Fragmentation Hurdles
The new EU initiative and others may position Europe as a potential new hub for scientific research, capitalizing on the uncertainty faced by American researchers.
However, it is unclear whether it will be able to achieve the funding needed to attract top scientists, as European universities are significantly less wealthy than their US counterparts.
Nevertheless, European leaders appear committed to building science in Europe.
Last month, Macron and von der Leyen announced plans to invite scientists and researchers from around the world to Europe.
In April, France launched the “Choose France for Science” platform, run by the French National Research Agency (FNRA), which allows universities, schools and research institutions to apply for government co-funding to host researchers.
The EU’s move comes amid internal challenges as well. The departure of key research-intensive countries like the UK from the Horizon Europe program, combined with bureaucratic hurdles and underfunded institutions in Eastern Europe, has contributed to a fragmented research landscape.
Meanwhile, in the US, Trump’s proposed legislation to cut science funding still faces Congressional hurdles and political pushback.
Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, blasted the Trump administration’s cuts to science at a committee hearing this week. The committee discussed the administration’s plans to gut and privatize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Sen. Cantwell said the committee will “hold this administration accountable for the cuts in science. It is not acceptable.”
“Innovation is the way we’re going to grow our economies. It is the way we’re going to protect our industries that exist today,” she said.
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